The Mets defeated the Diamondbacks by the score of 4-2 on Friday night at Citi Field – here are my takeaways from the win…
Stop! Hammer time!
What a night for Noah Syndergaard. My word.
He fanned 13, but that doesn’t even do his outing justice. That’s how good he was on Friday. He allowed a first inning run thanks to an AJ Pollock leadoff double and a Paul Goldschmidt sac fly, but that was that, as he absolutely mowed down the best offense in the league.
He had it all working on Friday with an electric fastball, a wicked slide piece, a devastating curveball, and an incredible change-up. The Arizona hitters were utterly clueless against him tonight, especially towards the end of his outing when he struck out nine of the final 14 batters he faced.
Noah is a special talent. There’s no question about it. He has been special since the Mets got here, and a priceless asset for this franchise. And it’s all coming together for the young right-hander, and he’s getting better and better with each pitch he throws.
It’s incredibly fun to watch.
The Mets scored “a lot” of runs, again.
The Mets are on a hot streak – they’ve scored four runs in consecutive games.
Of course, the Mets scored all their runs in one inning. But it was noteworthy because they came via a three-run home run from by Lucas Duda, who had been mired in a 19-for-123 slump, followed immediately by a solo home run by Michael Cuddyer. It was the first home run for Duda since June 18 and the first home run for Cuddyer since June 5.
The Mets absolutely must get those two going at the plate if they’re going to get to the playoffs. They can acquire two or three new players, but it won’t matter if they don’t start hitting. Perhaps today will mark the beginning of their turnaround? Time will tell, but these were very positive signs for two extremely important players.
An impressive stretch of games.
The Mets have now won five of their last seven after an embarrassing sweep at the hans of the Cubs last week. They’ve gotten phenomenal pitching during the entire run top-to-bottom, buying their offense an opportunity to score just enough during this run.
It’s important the Mets head into the break on a high note, especially with the Cardinals and Nationals staring them down to open the unofficial second half of the season. Positive momentum and positive feelings can only help them, and they’re starting to show some very good signs at an important time during a difficult stretch.
They now have to keep it rolling, and survive just long enough to give Sandy Alderson no choice but to add some offense and make a run down the stretch.
Other notes from Friday:
The 12 strikeouts for Syndergaard are a new career-high, and a season-high for a Mets starter this season.
Syndergaard’ 116 pitches are the most thrown by a Mets pitcher in 2015.
The last Met to strike out 13 batters in a game was Jacob deGrom in September, 2013.
Syndergaard is the youngest Met pitcher to strike out 13 batters since Dwight Gooden did it in 1986.
Before tonight, the last time the Mets hit back-to-back home runs was on May 14 when Wilmer Flores and Anthony Recker went back-to-back.
Flores went 1-for-2 with a walk – he’s 13-for-his-last-28 at the plate.
Juan Lagares had two hits on the night – he’s hitting .296 over his last seven games.
Jeurys Familia recorded his 25th save despite allowing a run in the ninth.
The Mets scored four runs in an inning for the first time since June 1 in San Diego.
The Mets improved to 38-3 when leading after seven innings and 32-5 when scoring four or more runs in 2015.
Just Mets 